Category: new haven

We’re loving this New Haven Lawn Club wedding! Meet Christian and Rob. This beautiful bride and handsome groom had their wedding at the New Haven Lawn Club in Connecticut. Their wedding has a classic theme tied in with some personalized handmade details. Katie from Katie Slater Photography captured the love, faith, and commitment that makes us so very proud to feature this wedding.

New Haven Lawn Club Wedding

Christian says, “For me, the inspiration was remembering the past and embracing the future. I lost both of my parents to cancer prior to the wedding and my grandmother could not be in attendance. The colors we chose, certain aspects of the ceremony and giving to charity in lieu of favors were all in an effort to remember my dearest family members while simultaneously celebrating my future with my husband.”

“We did our own escort cards by downloading a calligraphy font and using great stamps we purchased on Etsy. We also did our own table numbers by using pictures of ourselves at the age of the table number. With the help of our wedding planner, we made ribbons for the different charities guests could vote for us to donate to.”

“My favorite part was the first look. Not only did it relieve some of the pressure from later on in the day, it was our time to soak it all in. We walked around the venue, saw everything we may have missed if we were only present for wedding activities. We got to chat with our vendors (who we absolutely loved each and every one of them!) and just enjoy the moment.”

Katie tells us, “Christian and Rob hold a very special place in our hearts. We knew this day was going to be special since our very first meeting. Christian came to us having recently lost her mother. She bravely and openly shared her story with us. We’ve been so lucky to work with such an amazing couple.”

“The love in Christian and Rob’s day is palpable. The quiet moments filled with prayer. The happy moments filled with laughter. We adore them all. We especially love how these two planned their day to represent more than just their favorite colors. They selected tones of pink (for breast cancer) and dark purple (pancreatic cancer) to remind them of their lost family members.”

“Simple, classic details. Walls washed in rosy hued light. Candles upon candles upon candles. There’s so much to love here.”

If you’re planning a vintage wedding, you won’t want to miss today’s Real Vintage Wedding feature! Corey and Matt’s New Haven, Connecticut wedding was beautifully styled with DIY details and plenty of vintage wedding accents. The bridesmaid dresses were all handmade by Soho Mode using vintage fabrics, the bride sewed vintage hanky bunting to display in the reception room, vintage pins were used for the table seating chart, and field flowers were displayed in tea tins for chic vintage wedding centerpieces. Instead of a wedding cake, the couple used one huge cupcake and used vintage hand-stamped forks (“I Do” and “Me Too”) with a small photo placed between the prongs of the forks. Their wedding photographer – Michelle of Michelle Gardella Photography – beautifully captured the day from start to finish. She tells us, “Corey and Matt are one of those couples that truly make this world a better place, simply by being in it. Their love for one another completely lit up the entire day, and even complete strangers on Yale’s campus stopped and swooned. While their wedding was filled with wonderful details, and meaningful decorative touches, what I love most about this day is that the focus was on what really matters- love and family.” We couldn’t agree more. Read on to see how their vintage wedding day unfolded after the jump!

Vintage Wedding: Corey + Matt

Michelle also tells us, “Truth be told, it was completely freezing that day. But nobody seemed to notice. Not one person complained. Because really, it’s impossible to be anything but happy when you’re around a love like this.”

What a gorgeous wedding! Here are the vendors who contributed to make it oh-so-lovely…

If you love these photographs and want to see more by the talented Michelle Gardella, visit her website to see more, get inspired with Real Weddings from her blog, and consider her photography for your wedding day! (P.S. Not only is she ridiculously talented, but she’s a total sweetheart, too.)

Let your heart throb for this DIY wedding! This DIY wedding is the creation of two artists, Bonnie and Alex. Bonnie the bride and Alex the groom went all out collaborating, crafting, and creating perfect handmade elements that detailed their DIY wedding. This beautiful bride and dashing groom not only designed a most splendid handmade wedding but chose the quintessential wedding photography team Michelle and Thomas from Michelle Gardella Photography to photograph it. With the ceremony overlooking New Haven Harbor and Long Island Sound, Bonnie and Alex shared their vows on the sandy beach at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, CT. Housed inside the reception area were delectable hors d’oeuvres adorning burlap table cloths, mason jar centerpieces, and a personalized Alex + Bonnie cake topper in front of the park’s famous Carousel. Ready and willing to answer your wedding questions and provide detail into her DIY wedding is Bonnie! Find out what she has to say after the jump…

Bonnie tells us, “Alex and I are both artists. Coming from a DIY family- planning a wedding was going to be the ultimate DIY project of my life- and I couldn’t have been more excited (besides the prospect of marrying my best friend and the love of my life). Being together for 8 years now, Alex knows how obsessed I am with DIY projects. Why spend money on something when you can just make it yourself? That has always been my motto. True, it usually takes twice as long than expected to make it- but sometimes that’s how long it takes to put all the love into it. There is no greater satisfaction than knowing you made something yourself.

Our Handmade ventures started off with our Save the Dates and Invitations. With the help of my ridiculously fabulous and uber talented sister in law, Olga Levitsky (a fellow illustrator) they were a true labor of love. Olga also sculpted our cake topper with sculpey clay to match our characters she illustrated. After impatiently waiting for it to dry… I sat down and painted it in one day. This was one of my favorite projects. Seeing it on top of my mom’s delicious homemade chocolate cake was priceless. She also made the beautiful cards sign we had hanging over our basket for cards.

To thank our wedding party, I made all the girls jewelry to wear and Alex bought the boys cufflinks from different artists on Etsy. The day before the wedding, my bridesmaids and I picked some wildflowers in the back yard and raided the farmers market for the rest of what we needed. We stayed up late making our own bouquets and boutonnieres for the boys.

We were so fortunate to be able to have the talented Michelle and Thomas Gardella and their third shooter for the day Megan Labarbera (who snapped a lot of these details!) all capture such a special time in our lives. Michelle and Thomas are two of the most amazing, beautiful fellow artists that share our love of everything DIY. When you meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and you have a celebration to share that love with your friends and family, you really want Michelle and Thomas there. When a visual image causes another sense within you to engage- it is truly remarkable. Looking back at the photos, I can smell the ocean, feel the sand on my toes and the butterflies in my stomach start right back up again. I am so lucky to have met such astonishing talent and beauty- and we are forever thankful.”

We all have a place in our hearts for our college campuses. Well, Robyn and Lou made a day of it with their photographer Michelle from Michelle Gardella Photography. Their Yale engagement photo shoot started with riding vintage bicycles around the Yale campus kicking it old school, teaching the cool kids how to be cool. Then off they went exploring around the backwoods of New Haven, setting up a campsite of love and playing with their handmade mustaches. And with a fierce desire for some amazing vegan cooking, they went to Claire’s Corner Copia in downtown New Haven. Those chocolate chip pancakes are making us hungry! See for yourself…

If you’re looking for more creative photo shoots and a unique storyteller who’s bound to impress you with what puts the fun in a fun couple’s photos, see Michelle’s site here. Michelle Gardella is a preferred vendor in The Bridal Book at Emmaline Bride and you may view her listing here.